We were lucky to catch up with Julia Ahrens recently and have shared our conversation below.

Julia, appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Miakoda was created to reshape the fashion industry. The fashion industry is one of the highest polluting and most unethical industries on the planet. Miakoda is ethically and sustainably made in the USA. We use fair labor, sustainable materials, and produce everything in small batches…slowly… to combat the ever so damaging effects of the standard fast fashion industry.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I attended Parsons in NYC for a degree in fashion design. During my junior year, I went vegan and began practicing yoga. I learned about the damaging effects of the traditional fashion industry and how unethical and unsustainable it is. My veganism and yoga practice pushed me to look into the morals and ethics of the fashion industry and I was so upset to learn that it didn’t align with the person I wanted to be, what I wanted to support, or what I wanted to do with my life. Upon graduating I was offered many job positions and none of them felt right. I wanted to work for a company that aligned with my morals and values and I couldnt find a job that did just that. I chatted with my family and decided to start Miakoda to create options for consumers who felt the same way I do about the fashion industry. To reshape the fashion industry to be more sustainable and ethical.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My sister! My sister isn’t active in the day to day operations of Miakoda but she invested in me to start the biz. She’s my co founder and my number one cheerleader. I am so blessed to have her always supporting me and giving me inspiration! And from time to time she helps me with design development and marketing. She’s incredible at lifestyle marketing and I always lean on her for inspiration for that! It’s truly a blessing to have your sister be a great business partner. You hear the phrase don’t mix family and biz, and with Laura, its the opposite and for that I am forever grateful!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Social media! I love social media. Well, I have a love/hate relationship with it… but who doesn’t! We’ve built Miakoda’s following almost exclusively through Instagram and I’m so grateful for our community on there. I truly believe that being able to be personal and chat with our customers and community members in a way that makes them feel like part of the brand (because they truly are!) is what’s helped us grow and foster community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.miakodanewyork.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/miakodanewyork
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miakodanewyork/

Image Credits
Different photographers for each, please let me know which you’re using and I can give credits!